On Thursday Amsterdam International Fashion Week was unofficially opened with the Off Schedule event in legendary pop-temple Paradiso. Off Schedule featured the first edition of the Amsterdam Denim Award, an annual award for up-and-coming international designers which gives the winner the chance to produce, sell and market a capsule denim collection under their own label

Participants in the 2008 edition of the Amsterdam Denim Award were an Austrian label apparently called "House of the very island's royal club division Middlesex klassenkampf but the question is where are you, now" (what's in a name, eh?), former-Vibskov designer Patrick Mohr from Germany, British rising talent James Long, daring Dutch darlings and Beyond [sic], the self-made man from Paris Eric LeBon, and Parisian fashion collective Andrea Crews. All showed their S/S 09 collections and two more denim outfits made especially for the award.

The international jury, which included Diane Pernet, Beams Japan buyer Juhji Kamasaki, Sport & Street founder Sabrina Ciofi and Austrian designers Helga Schania and Herman Fankhauser from Wendy&Jim (who just launched their own denim label) had a tough job selecting the winner. It turned out to be a close call between Eric LeBon and James Long, who both skillfully translated their strong signature silhouettes into convincing denim looks, bringing a fresh yet commercial fashion edge to the denim industry. James Long got a special jury mention and a complimentary bottle of champagne, which he popped backstage to share with his models. Eric LeBon's winning denim collection will be reproduced into a professional denim sample collection to be shown at several trade shows like CPH Vision in Kopenhagen.